On March 16, Momoko and Wes Ahrens moved from California to Colorado Springs with their 3-month-old-daughter. Less than 72 hours later, the apartment below and diagonal to them caught on fire inside of the chimney and spread to the rest of that apartment. While Momoko and Wes’s apartment escaped fire damage, everything that they had just finished unpacking has been affected by smoke damage. Since the fire, Momoko and Wes have been able to stay with friends while the damage was assessed. They will be moving to a new apartment on March 23. Hopefully, many of their possessions will be able to be decontaminated by washing and/or an ozone machine, but many other possessions will need to be disposed of for safety. The $2,000 will specifically go towards purchasing a new bed, couch, kitchen items, pantry items, and baby necessities (bottles, pumping supplies, and a crib mattress). The money will also go towards additional costs that were incurred by moving to a new apartment complex.

**Wes and Momoko will be giving any funds contributed over $2,000 to the family of the apartment where the fire started. They have 4 children and lost everything in the fire.**

I am a close friend of Momoko and Wes (they have been staying with my husband and I since the fire).